Chromosome Ends and Aging

If you enjoyed our article Is TA-65 the Means to Immortality? about TA-65 telomerase activation therapy and the involvement of chromosomal telomeres in the aging process, you might also enjoy this video from Professor Elizabeth Blackburn of University of California at San Francisco. She discusses the relationship between telomeres, cell division, and aging-related diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Australian-born biologist Elizabeth Blackburn‘s groundbreaking work on telomere research while at the University of California is recounted in the book Elizabeth Blackburn and the Story of Telomeres: Deciphering the Ends of DNA. She is co-discoverer of telomerase, the enzyme that helps lengthen telomeres. She has continued her research on telomerase, discovering that the enzyme upregulates 70 genes known or suspected to be involved in the growth of cancers in the body and that people under high stress tend to have shorter telomeres.